Film Festival 2006 (April 2-8)

“The Last Days of Cinema? The Love of Film in the Age of Digital Media”

2006 Schedule <view>

Welcome:

Ever since movie theater audience numbers began to decline in the 1960s, filmmakers have expressed a concern about the “death of cinema.” In the age of digital media, the “cinema” as a space of diversion, entertainment, community, and education is once again under scrutiny. The 2006 ODU Film Festival “The Last Days of Cinema? The Love of Film in the Age of Digital Media” reflects upon the role of the cinema in contemporary global cultures and celebrates the institution of the cinema as reflected in films themselves concerned with the space of the cinema. Yet the potential threat to the cinema is not new: films such as Jacques Richard’s documentary Henri Langlois: The Phantom of the Cinematheque depict Langlois’s heroic attempts in World War II Paris at saving great film from oblivion and destruction. “Cinephilia” is of necessity a nostalgic emotion dependent upon the threat of extinction brought about by the rise of television and other media. In this year’s festival we celebrate films that reflect on the process of moviemaking and the space of the cinema. We will screen films that are concerned with filmmaking and the cinema, as well as with the boundary between the media of film, the photographic image, and digital images.
 
Our festival will bring to light the perils and triumphs of independent filmmakers, cinema owners and artists as they struggle against the increasing competition presented by conglomerates, Hollywood studios and movie theater chains. Similarly, we will explore the burgeoning film industries from Asia as they face not only the difficulties of financing and world distribution but also struggles with traditions within their respective countries. Our festival will also highlight the golden age of the Silent Era with a day devoted to silent classics. From Bollywood, to Hollywood, to Europe, from Norfolk to New York, from the cutting edge to the cutting room floor, the 2006 ODU Film Festival seeks to raise questions as well as to provide answers to the query: “Are these the last days of cinema as we know it?” The dynamics of film have been changing with incredible speed since the Lumiere Brothers’ first shots of the La Ciotta train station. Hampton Roads will have a unique chance to enjoy not only the great films that we will be screening, but engage in a dialogue with film scholars and filmmakers. We invite you to come and share these cinematic experiences at various community venues such as the ODU campus, the Naro Expanded Cinema, the Chrysler Museum and local restaurants for a cinematic feast that will nourish you long after the popcorn bowl is empty.

We would like to thank our colleagues at Old Dominion University, who have given generously in form of creative energy and time, as well as our guest speakers and filmmakers who are helping to globalize this local event. We are also grateful to Sandy Mathews, Juliet Welch, and Ryan Fulcher for their administrative help, research support, and web design. Special thanks go to the Office of the Dean of Arts and Letters for generous funding of this event.

--Heidi Schlipphacke and Peter Schulman, 2006 Festival Directors